FOCUS -- THE 'PROBLEM of the FPI – THE FRONT OF ISLAM DEFENDERS”

The
state, not the FPI, is the real problemThe
Jakarta Post Commentary: , July 24 2013 , Endy M. Bayuni

The
Islam Defenders Front (FPI) came under another round of scathing
attacks this week in the wake of the latest violence involving its
members. Media news and commentaries, as well as social media, are
buzzing with condemnations of the group over what happened in the
Central Java town of Kendal last Thursday.There is now a growing
chorus to disband the FPI, invoking the Mass Organization Law that
gives the government such power. The law, passed by the House of
Representatives this month, has yet to be signed into law by
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.Ironically, the same people
who had opposed the passage of the law when it was deliberated in the
House due to its draconian nature are also clamoring for the
ban.

But is the FPI the real culprit?

We are treading a
fine line between the need to protect freedom of association and
freedom of expression on the one hand, and the need to protect
citizens against violent acts perpetrated by groups like the FPI
on the other. These rights are guaranteed by the constitution,
which also states that the state is responsible for ensuring that
those rights are upheld.Criticisms against the FPI, long
notorious for its violent acts, have been misplaced. We are
barking up the wrong tree. The FPI is not the real problem. The state
is.

Why is the FPI allowed to get away with these violent
criminal acts in the first place, tormenting, harassing, injuring
and at one time even killing its targets? Only a few of these
incidents — we could count on one hand — ended up in court and
jail.

Now, as we saw what happened in Kendal on July 18, we
are heading to a dangerous situation where violence is starting to
beget violence.The local people, in a spontaneous move upon hearing
that a woman was killed after an FPI car crashed into her during
one of its sweeping operations against vice, went after the FPI
members with equal violence. Fortunately, the heavily outnumbered FPI
members found sanctuary in a mosque and were evacuated to safety only
after police arrived to fetch them. The angry mob was waiting outside
ready to inflict harm.

Many people, as is clear from their
comments in social media, cheered when the FPI finally got a taste of
its own medicine: fear.They did not see the more serious
implications of this. More people in the future will organize
themselves into a mob to confront the FPI every time it goes out on a
sweeping operation. Both sides will be armed for sure, and both
would not back down. We can predict that there will be more clashes
in the future.

Where is the state, the police, in particular,
in all this?This is the question that many people have repeatedly
asked every time they hear of another report of FPI harassment or
violent attacks against religious minorities, restaurant and bar
owners, or just about anyone who has come under its wrath.

The
state has never been more impotent when it comes to dealing with the
likes of the FPI.The FPI’s right to exist should be protected, no
matter how violent its ideology is. The danger with banning the
FPI is that we know it will not be the last one to go, and that
soon, organizations critical of the government will be muzzled
this way. In the past, we have seen how the Mass Organization Law
can become a powerful, repressive tool.

Small organizations
like the FPI thrive on media attention. The massive publicity makes
them look a lot bigger than it is. The portrayal of the FPI as a
violent or “anarchistic” group by the media plays into its
agenda, for it helps to instill fear in the public. Even the
police are scared, apparently.As much as some people want to, we
cannot ban any ideology. Like faith, people believe what they
want to believe. But the state can do something each time these
violent groups break the law. Not before.

We should all be
venting our anger at the state, in this case, Yudhoyono, the man who,
for some strange reason, was in May conferred an international
statesman award for promoting religious tolerance in Indonesia by the
New York-based Appeal to Conscience Foundation.He has failed
us.On Monday, amid all the social media buzz calling for the FPI
ban, Yudhoyono said he would not tolerate acts of violence and
instructed the police to do something about it.

Mr. President,
we have heard it before. Until we see real action on your part, we
will not raise our hopes.The FPI also did not take Yudhoyono’s
remarks seriously. No sooner after he made it, FPI chairman Habib
Rizieq came out with the most defiant statement, calling the
president “a loser”.

Therefore, it looks like the
violence will continue, but next time around, it may be worse.
After Kendal, expect ugly clashes from what our bureaucrats like to
call “horizontal conflicts”.Only Yudhoyono can put a stop
to this. Unless he forgets, in the oath of office that he took in
2004 and in 2009, he pledged to uphold the constitution. That means
protecting every citizen against acts of violence, by anyone,
even those who claim to represent God.

Yudhoyono is good until
October 2014. Indonesia is already a failing state. He should stop
it from completely failing.

Members
of the House of Representatives have called on the government to take
action against the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) following
last week’s clash between its members and residents of Sukorejo,
Kendal, Central Java, which left a local woman dead.The lawmakers
said the decision was in the hands of the Home Ministry. The ministry
is responsible for managing the country’s mass organizations and
has authority under the newly-enacted Law on mass organization to
take action against the FPI to prevent more violence.

“The
FPI has clearly violated stipulations in the law on mass
organizations by committing violence. The government should take firm
action against the organization, by implementing an immediate
suspension,” lawmaker Abdul Malik Haramain, who chaired a special
committee tasked with deliberating the Mass Organization Law at the
House of Representatives, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.The
National Awakening Party (PKB) politician emphasized that such a
punishment was urgent in order to “prevent members of the FPI
committing further violent acts against locals”.

Tri
Muniarti, 42, a resident of Sukorejo, died after a car driven by
members of the FPI hit her and several other people, including her
husband, during a riot following FPI attempts to conduct a sweep in
the village’s red-light area last Thursday.Tri sustained severe
head injuries and was pronounced dead upon arrival at Ngesti Waluyo
Hospital in Parakan. Three other residents sustained fractures and
bruises.

The Mass Organization Law, which was endorsed in
June, amid widespread criticism for its undermining of freedom of
association, mandates the government to temporarily halt the
operations of any groups that, among other things, fail to preserve
peace and public order, as well as groups that attempt to take the
law into their own hands.

However, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi
said that the government could only act if it received
recommendations from members of the public or the National Police, a
stance lawmakers dismissed as “unacceptable”. “The law says
nothing about such requirements,” Haramain said. “The law
stipulates that the government can issue warning letters to
problematic organizations and can temporarily halt their operations
if they fail to respond to the warnings.”

Separately, Eva
Kusuma Sundari from the House’s Commission III overseeing law and
human rights concurred with Haramain, saying that “the government’s
reluctance to punish the FPI for what happened in Kendal shows that
it is afraid of the radical group”.

According to Eva, a
politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P),
the government and the police do not need any more reasons to punish
groups such as the FPI, which has repeatedly committed violence and
illegally imposed its will on the public. “It’s crystal clear
to me that the government has never had the commitment to punish
vigilante groups, such as the FPI. It’s unreasonable for the
government to wait for recommendations in order to take action
against the FPI or any other vigilante groups because it is the
institution with the mandated authority.”

During the
deliberation of the law, the Home Ministry, which initiated it,
repeatedly gave assurances that the bill would be responsive to
public calls for the disbandment of violent groups such as the
FPI.Prodemocracy activists, however, doubt whether the law will
address the problem and have called for a repeal of the draconian
legislation.

Activists said that the government’s response
to the incident in Sukorejo showed that with or without the Mass
Organization Law the government would not take action against the
FPI. “It’s clear that the government won’t deal with the
FPI with or without the law,” Elga Sarapung from Yogyakarta-based
interfaith organization, DIAN/Interfidei, said.Responding to the
critics, Bachtiar, the Home Ministry’s mass organization sub
directorate head, said the public should not force the ministry to
take the responsibility as the authority belonged to the
police.

“The police have taken all measures to deal with the
incident. It’s too much to expect the Home Ministry to take the
responsibility, particularly if people use the law [on mass
organization] to put pressure on us,” Bachtiar said.FPI
spokesman Muchsin Alatas responded disdainfully to the calls from the
House for his group’s disbandment, saying that the group would
suspend their operations if lawmakers enforced the law and stopped
being corrupt. “It’s the House that needs suspension because it
has imposed a lot of suffering on the people through their corrupt
actions,” he said.

*
* *

National
Police move cautiously against FPI chairman Yuliasri Perdani, The Jakarta
Post, Jakarta | National | Fri, July 26 2013, 9:05 AM The National Police chief
Gen. Timur Pradopo has ordered the force’s crime division to set up
a special team to investigate whether the statement of hard-line
Islam Defenders Front (FPI) chairman Rizieq Shihab, who called
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a “loser”, could be seen as
slander.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie
said on Thursday the team was looking to determine whether Rizieq’s
insulting of the President could be deemed a criminal offense.“The
National Police will not sit and wait for a report [to start an
investigation] since this concerns the honor of the country’s
highest leader. We will use the law that carries provisions against
insults or misdemeanors,” Ronny said.

Rizieq issued a
statement on Monday, calling Yudhoyono “a loser who spread
slanderous statements and stayed tight-lipped about maksiat [immoral
practices]”.He was referring to a press statement by Yudhoyono
on Sunday in which he criticized the FPI for committing vigilante
acts.

The President reprimanded the firebrand group following
a clash between FPI members and local residents of Sukorejo in
Kendal, Central Java, which claimed a life and injured three. The
riot broke out following the FPI’s attempts to conduct a sweep of
the village’s alleged red-light district on Thursday.Articles 134,
136 and 137 of the Criminal Code stipulate an individual who insults
the president orvice president faces a maximum penalty of five years
imprisonment and Rp 300 million (US$29,100) in fines.

The
police, however, could not charge Rizieq with those articles as the
Constitutional Court annulled the articles in 2006 on the grounds
that they infringed freedom of expression.Early this year,
lawmakers proposed reinstating the articles.The police may charge
Rizieq with Article 335 on misdemeanor and articles 310 and 311 on
defamation, which carry a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
The police can only apply Article 335 based on a report.

Responding
to mounting calls for the disbandment of the FPI, Cabinet Secretary
Dipo Alam said the government would not resort to such action because
the organization itself had never been formally registered.“The FPI
is just like an informal forum where people get together and hang
out,” he said at the State Palace.

Home Minister Gamawan
Fauzi, however, rejected Dipo’s claim on Thursday, saying the FPI
was a legal organization and was registered with the Home
Ministry.“It is registered with the Directorate General for the
Nation’s Unity and Politics in our ministry. It is a legal mass
organization,” Gamawan told reporters on Thursday.Earlier,
Gamawan said his ministry could not yet enforce the newly endorsed
Mass Organization Law against the FPI, because it did not take effect
until early next month pending the issuance of a government
regulation for its implementation.

The Mass Organization Law
mandates the government to issue three reprimands to any groups
causing public disturbances before finally lodging a formal request
of temporary suspension to the Supreme Court.The Kendal clash and
Rizieq’s statements have stirred public outrage against the FPI,
with some figures and lawmakers urging the disbandment of the group,
using the newly-enacted law.

On Wednesday, several hackers
managed to deface the FPI’s official website fpi.or.id.Bowing
to pressure, Rizieq on Wednesday delivered an apology to the family
of Tri Munarti, a pregnant woman who was killed in the clash.

* * *

FPI
apologizes to victims of clash

Bagus BT Saragih and
Margareth S. Aritonang, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Thu,
July 25 2013, 7:46 AM Chairman of the hard-line
Islam Defenders Front (FPI), Rizieq Shihab, has apologized to the
family of the woman who died during a clash between members of the
hardline group and locals in Kendal, Central Java, and instructed all
of the organization’s members not to engage in raids and
vandalism.“On behalf of the FPI, I apologize to the victims.
May the deceased be accepted by Allah, and the injured be blessed
with a speedy recovery,” Riziek said in a statement issued on
Wednesday.

He also said that the FPI would pay compensation to
the victim’s family. “The FPI will pay for the education of the
victim’s son until he gets his bachelor’s degree. We will give Rp
500,000 [$50] each month,” he said.Rizieq also promised any of FPI
members who were involved in violence could face legal charges and be
dismissed from the organization.He also said that the FPI would
withdraw a police report it filed against locals who allegedly
assaulted FPI members or damaged its properties. “But if they were
provocateurs who were actually responsible for the incident, the FPI
would ask the police to continue legal processes against
them.”

Kendal native Tri Munarti, who was pregnant, was
killed in the fatal clash last week.She and her husband were on a
motorbike when a vehicle allegedly driven by FPI members hit them.
Three other people were also injured.The FPI members were
reportedly attempting to flee an angry mob that ran amok following
the FPI’s raids of a red-light district in Sukorejo, Central
Java.

Following the incident, Central Java police named seven
suspects, three of whom were FPI members.In his statement, Rizieq
pledged no FPI member would conduct any kind of violent acts again in
the future. “FPI members are strictly prohibited from conducting
sweeps and destruction of public property, let alone causing death,”
he said.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, several hackers managed to
deface the FPI’s official website fpi.or.id.On early Wednesday,
the homepage of the site was turned into a picture of a woman in a
hijab with a darkened background.Minutes later, the picture
turned into a “fearsome long-haired ghost” with a text “Hacked
by Besideo7. Serius, gan [Serously, Sir]?”. Then all the
backgrounds changed to white with before “The FPI has offended the
law”, and “Under maintenance forever by fake admin FPI”
appeared

Later on Wednesday, the top panel of the website was
replaced with a banner of JKT48, a 51-member girl group, who are
wildly popular among male teen.In a related development, Home
Ministry Gamawan Fauzi said that his ministry could not enforce the
newly endorsed Law on Mass Organizations against the FPI yet, because
it could not take effect until early next month pending the issuance
of a government regulation for its implementation.

The Mass
Organization Law mandates the government to issue three reprimands to
any groups causing public disturbance before finally lodging a formal
request of temporary suspension to the Supreme Court.Cabinet
Secretary Dipo Alam, meanwhile, said that the government would not be
able to disband the FPI because the organization itself had never
been formally registered.“The FPI is just like an informal
forum where people get together and hang out,” he said at the State
Palace.

Separately, Deputy Chairwoman of the People’s
Consultative Assembly (MPR) Melanie Leimena Suharli has joined other
lawmakers calling for suspension of radical groups, including the
FPI, but encouraged to seek support from the country’s largest
Islamic organizations, Nahdatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah.“Support
from both groups is important because they have a large number of
followers. Once they make the move, all of their followers will
follow suit, which make efforts to suspend FPI finally work,”
Leimena of the Democratic Party said.* * *Activists Concerned FPI Backlash Will Quiet Mass
Organizations Law Protest

Stronger law enforcement,
not mass organizations bill, needed to crackdown on Indonesia's
hard-line IslamistsBy Markus
Junianto Sihaloho on 11:35 am July 28, 2013. The Jakarta
Globe.As pressures mounts for
the government to disband a notorious hard-line Muslim group, one
activist expressed concerns about how it should be done.Ray Rangkuti from
pro-democracy group, the Indonesian Civil Circle (LIMA), said many
have called the government to implement the controversial Mass
Organization Law and use it to disband the Islamic Defenders Front
(FPI).Members of the hard-line
group more than a week ago clashed with residents of Kendal,
Central Java, over a raid on what the FPI said was a brothel
operating during the Ramadan fasting month.Outnumbered, FPI members
attempted to flee using a hired truck, but the vehicle hit and
killed a bystander, which only served to further fuel local
residents’ anger.Days after the clash, 50 members of the
Makassar chapter of the FPI wrecked a small shop serving beer in
Makassar, South Sulawesi.The incident was captured on video and
uploaded to YouTube, causing a sensation online. Police
subsequently arrested three men allegedly involved in the attack.Home Affairs Minister
Gamawan Fauzi said on Thursday that the group, implicated in a
long history of vandalism cases across the country, has disrupted
public order and could be permanently disbanded under the new
law.But Ray said that using the law to disband the FPI would be a
setback to pro-democracy groups’ struggle to have it repealed.
“It will legitimize the
Mass Organization Law as if it has been socially accepted,” he
said on Saturday.Last month, a divided House of Representatives
enacted the law, despite arguments that it would restrict freedom
of assembly and could pave the way for a crackdown of
organizations critical to the government.
“Right now, NGOs
[nongovernmental organizations] are trying hard to get the law
repealed through legal and political channels. Using the Mass
Organization Law to disband the FPI will undo those efforts,”
Ray said.Ray said the government should use other means to
dissuade the hard-line group from future acts of violence by
ensuring that members who violate the law are no longer be granted
impunity and lenient punishment.In 2011, a court in
Bekasi, West Java, gave light sentences to 13 FPI members,
including the local head Murhali Barda, who is linked to an attack
on members of a Protestant church congregation.Murhali was
sentenced to five months and 15 days in jail for “unpleasant
conduct.”Golkar Party politician
Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa agreed that better law enforcement is key,
saying that disbanding the FPI using the Mass Organization Law
would only lead group members to form another hard-line
organization under a new name.
“These incidents will
continue if the government is not consistent in upholding the
law,” he said.National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the
police were developing several vandalism cases of FPI becoming
involved in incidents in Kendal and Makassar.Still, many have
criticized the police’s protracted investigation, saying that
they are not taking action fast enough.President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono has said that he will not use his authority to disband
the FPI without first consulting the country’s major Islamic
organizations.

* * *

SBY Won’t
Disband FPI Without Islamic Support, Democrat Says

By Carlos
Paath on 11:00 am July 27, 2013. The Jakarta Globe.A prominent politician says
the president will not use his authority to disband a hard-line
Islamic group notorious for its vigilante antics without first
consulting with the country’s major Muslim organizations.President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono’s decision to consult with the religious-based
organizations Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah was disclosed by
senior Democratic Party legislator politician Melanie Leimena
Suharly.“The president will probably take action if all elements,
especially NU and Muhammadiyah, agree that the FPI needs to be
disbanded,” Melanie said on Friday, referring to the Islamic
Defenders Front.She said that despite the president having the full
authority to disband the FPI, he did not want to make a careless
decision or break the law.
“We don’t want to see the
president ready to [disband] but then be opposed by other elements.
The president wants everything to be done based on agreements from
all elements in the public because he doesn’t want to violate the
law or human rights,” she said.The government is facing mounting
pressure to disband the hard-line organization following its attempt
last week to raid a suspected brothel in Kendal, Central Java, which
resulted in a clash with locals in which an innocent motorist was
killed.Three FPI members have been
arrested and charged in the incident, including the driver of the car
involved in the hit-and-run on the motorist.The deadly incident
sparked public outrage, particularly in light of the FPI’s long
history of conducting vigilante raids and the police’s repeated
reluctance to prosecute the group. Even president was compelled to
speak out following the latest act of violence.On Monday, Yudhoyono
published a Facebook post urging the FPI to refrain from using
violence.
“I call on my brothers in
the FPI to stop their use of violence and taking justice in their own
hands,” the president said.“The way to fight sinful activities
and religious deviants should not be done by doing something that is
more deviant. I’m sure the FPI can do many things that are better
and more useful for the people and our society,” he added.However, the FPI responded to
Yudhoyono’s statement by publishing a controversial retort from its
chairman, Rizieq Shihab, on its website.“It’s a pity. SBY appears
to be … a mere loser who likes spreading lies and remaining silent
about sinful activities. Not to mention, he’s been protecting the
Ahmadiyah and [individuals involved in] various corruption scandals.
This Muslim president is a disgrace to Islamic teachings,” Rizieq’s
statement said.He added that Yudhoyono could
criticize the FPI all he wanted.
“Because SBY is the
chairman of the most corrupt party, he is causing people to lose and
suffer. Worse than that, according to Yudhoyono’s former minister,
the president never prays. Those two points mean he’s not only
hurting Islam, but betraying Islam,” Rizieq said.The National Police confirmed
on Thursday that they had set up a special task force to investigate
Rizieq for possible defamation of the head of state.
“The chief of the criminal
investigation division has established an investigation team under
orders from the National Police chief,” National Police spokesman
Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie said as quoted by the Antara news agency
on Thursday.
“The National Police have
decided to directly investigate the issue without waiting for a
report [to be filed] because it concerns our country’s highest
leader.”Ronny said that the special investigation team would
collect all of Rizieq’s statements, both in print and online, to
construct a legal case.“Regarding the law that will be used [to
charge Rizieq], it will depend on the facts. We will find which law
best regulates the alleged violation,” he said.Ronny said that the police
were obliged to investigate the case even if the president did not
press charges.Democratic Party politician Ruhut Sitompul, who is also
a lawyer, said that Rizieq could be sued for defamation.Melanie lamented Rizieq’s
statement, saying that it was wrong for him to attack the head of
state.However, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, chairman of the youth wing of
Muhammadiyah, the country’s second-biggest Islamic organization,
called on the president not to overreact regarding the Kendal
incident.
“The controversy actually
benefits FPI because it continues to be a topic of discussion and
news,” he said.Saleh said that the president did not have to
respond in public and that he should have just ordered the police to
take firm action against everyone involved in the incident.He said
that because the FPI was part of the public, it should be legally
processed whenever it violated the law or caused a public
disturbance.